Thursday, October 12, 2017

Eminem On Trump | Lefsetz Letter

“What kind of crazy fucked-up world do we live in where the best golfer is black and the best rapper is white?”

One in which Eminem drew a line in the sand tonight, if you’re not with me, FUCK YOU!

This is everything today’s “musicians” are against. They don’t want to alienate a single potential audience member. Meanwhile, Marshall even takes the side of Kaepernick when Jerry Jones and the NFL want to keep teams down on the plantation.

But homey don’t play that no more.

This was unexpected.

We had an unjust war in Iraq.

We had a “moron” elected President.

And nobody in music said a word.

But those days are done.

What the music industry won’t admit is what it’s selling pales in comparison to what’s happening in Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, label heads, touring honchos, all they want to talk about is politics, you can get nary a peep out of them re music. Because they’re both fascinated and afraid.

But now Eminem broke the barrier down. Tonight he spoke the truth. Our truth. Isn’t that what artists are supposed to do, speak their truth beholden to no one?

Expect the floodgates to open, just like women came out of the woodwork after Cosby got caught, after Weinstein got caught, we’re a nation afraid of consequences until one person stands up, and no one’s got as much power as a musician, but they don’t use it, they’re afraid of alienating sponsors, they want to make nice.

But Eminem did not make nice tonight, he put it all on the line, he’s a beacon.

I lived through the sixties.

This is worse.

I was worried about getting my ass shot off in Vietnam.

Now I’m worried about being blown up by North Korea, latest news is their missiles can hit the west coast, but in a country where Puerto Rico can be devastated and no one cares, where Northern California can burn and no one cares, if you live in the Midwest or East you’re far less worried, you’re most concerned about terrorism, even though your chance of being killed by a stray bullet is much higher, and if you think the terrorists are coming first to Dubuque…

You probably voted for Trump.

Every damn day MSNBC beats up Trump. The NYT and the WaPo too.

And it makes no difference.

Every week Trump commits a faux pas, but nothing changes.

Except this weekend, when one of his team stood up and gave it to him, said the White House was a reality show and he was worried about World War III.

The world is changed by individuals. One person can change the course of history. Especially when they speak the truth.

So everyone’s got their heels dug in. We live in a tribal nation. You’re on one team or the other. Country acts can’t even come out for gun control after their fans are shot to death.

But then one artist who crosses lines spoke up.

Artists are not politicians. They exist in their own rarefied atmosphere. Eminem speaks to both right and left, both adore him. So when he speaks…

Taylor Swift is fighting Kanye, Marshall Mathers is fighting for equal rights and world peace.

So now everybody’s gonna see this, the entire younger generation, because hip-hop rules the country and Eminem is royalty. But instead of worrying about his bank account, tonight Marshall stood up for what’s right.

And maybe you already agree with him.

But if you don’t…

Are you gonna burn his CDs? Or delete his MP3s?

No, his video, his streams, are gonna live online, where you can’t kill them, looking you in the face every damn day.

Tonight Eminem broke the logjam. One artist eclipsed the entire debate. Called foul on Trump and his cronies agitating for a return to the past, where the little guy without a voice is screwed.

The only person with a voice as big as Trump’s is a rapper.

And tonight the king of rappers called him out.

Just start a tweet war with Eminem, Trump won’t be able to block followers fast enough, that’s the power of a musician.

And Eminem exercised that power tonight.

It’s been a long time coming.

P.S. That quote at the top is from Chris Rock, ever wonder where I got it from?